Nintendo Trophy Figures.

This is a Nintendo Trophy Figure, from 1988. I know it doesn’t look like much, but remember, there weren’t many Nintendo toys at all at that time. These things were gold-by-default.

It was a surprisingly large collection, with characters representing three of the era’s biggest games: Super Mario, Zelda and Punch-Out. (I’m going with the abbreviated titles, because the full versions are stuffed with periods and exclamation points and other things that make grammar checks nightmares.)

Each Trophy Figure featured a hero (or villain, or both) in an action pose. I’m sad to report that this “Super Mario Hurls a Fireball” is one of the collection’s lamest. Please don’t let him taint your opinion of the whole line. I promise, it got a lot cooler than this.

See that little scorecard sticker on the base? The idea was that you’d use these to commemorate your best Nintendo scores. Of course, nobody actually did this. If you ever hear someone claiming otherwise, assume that they’re lying. In truth, the toys were just “things for our shelves,” in one eye and out the other.

The toys looked a little cheap… and they were a little cheap. The concept was super close to working, but the execution didn’t quite cut it. Take this Mario, for example. Its composition is just so odd, and no single angle gives you a good look every important part. Also, they forgot to paint Mario’s sclerae. Microsoft Word won’t accept “sclerae,” but the Greeks would.

But, as mentioned, the other Trophy Figures were more inspired. Even limiting ourselves to the Super Mario versions, we got a full-fledged Bowser, and another where Mario is literally kicking a Koopa in the face. That’s so much better than when he does it figuratively.

The Zelda Trophies always included Link, but they also mixed in plenty of enemies. One pit Link against Gohma, and another had him fighting off a twice-as-tall Gibdo! (If you don’t know what those creatures look like: Gohma was kind of a crab/spider thing, and Gibdo was a big mummy.)

Course, the real showpieces were the Punch-Out Trophies. They were much harder to find. I cannot understate how unfathomably awesome it was to get a KING HIPPO figure in 1988. It wasn’t a miracle, but it felt like one.

I’ve been tracking these on the collectors’ market for years. The prices fluctuate wildly, but if you ever find them “cheap,” you’re lucky. The rarer and more interesting ones can go for a lot of money. (Occasionally more than $100!)

Most of us aren’t willing to pay top dollar, and there’s a specific reason for that. In fact, it’s the same reason why so many of us remember the things to begin with:

The Nintendo Trophy Figures were most readily available at Toys “R” Us. They weren’t kept near the “normal” action figures, but rather in the old school video game aisle. (You know, back when you picked your games by way of paper slips.)

For years (and I mean, YEARS), the Trophies remained in those aisles. Even after the games they were based on became “old hat,” the Trophies were still there. Toys “R” Us had them perpetually on clearance, but for some reason, it seems that only a relative few of us ever bought them.

Now, when I say “clearance,” I don’t mean “token clearance.” I mean like, “$1.12” clearance. Ridiculous prices. Red stickers, green stickers. I have little doubt that the figures would’ve sold out instantly had word gotten out about how cheap they’d become. Thing was, few people ever bothered to check.

I was one of the fortunate ones. Hey, by that point, I knew the score. Ever since I found those Wheeled Warriors accessory packs for eight goddamned cents, I never underestimated the power of a TRU clearance sale. I used to scour the whole store – even the aisle full of party favors – looking for those red or green stickers.

When people get warm fuzzies over the Nintendo Trophy Figures, I have to imagine that those old crazy prices are a big reason why. They were some of our first experiences with bargains. The fact that they were shaped like Bowser and King Hippo was just the gravy, baby.

I had to look up the word “sclerae”. I did not know there was a word for that. I thought that was just called “the eye”.

LindaJean

I had the Mario fireball one! I was super annoyed at his stupid angle standing on the base, too. It looks like the fireball on yours has contracted some sort of plastic deterioration issue too, meaning these were made of REALLY cheap plastic. I got one of these for the exact reason that there were just no other Mario toys out there. There was one plush, a bank, a couple clip-on guys and some actually rather nice cloisonne pins, but no figures. When I go into Toys R Us aisles today and see Luigi action figures readily available and on-model, I tear up a little bit. Kids don’t know how good they have it.

Matt

@Rachel: Sorry! 😉

@Rev: Yes, I didn’t know that the whites of our eyes had a proper name until this, either. And then I fell in love with the word.

@LindaJean: Yep, that was the big thing. There was almost nothing else out there. (I do remember extremely tiny “standalone” figures being sold in this era, but they weren’t articulated, and were only a little more extravagant than vending machine prizes.)

The funny thing is how there are OODLES of old school NES figures in today’s TRU stores. I’ll never get why they wasted so much time. Even if they just did Mario figures as a single line, it would’ve been absolutely huge. Just consider how popular those old Mario Happy Meal toys were.

Definitely remember these things, and I definitely remember these things sitting on shelves FOREVER. Those Punch Out! figures are fantastic. For as many different ones that they made, I’m surprised by how rare they are – there’s one for almost every character in the game, it seems.

I always wanted that Link trophy. There were pictures of it in some Nintendo Power insert I used to have. As I’ve said before: I was desperate for Nintendo toys when I was a kid in the early 90s, but there were none to be found. I bet the Toys R Us in Maine (I think there was only one) had them, but it was a long trip for us to make.

Beth!

Before I realized that its a fireball that Mario has I thought that he had scalped Princess Peach and was holding on to her hair for some reason.

As a kid obsessed with video games primarily for the monsters, I flipped when I saw the Zelda one with Ghoma, but for some reason, I decided at the last minute to get the one with the KEESE (the bat)…I don’t know why, it was a cool bat and all, but I still wish I had a plastic ghoma.

I forgot to add, however, that I found the one with Gibdo, minus the backdrop, at a thrift store. In the little sticker where you’re supposed to write your “high score” (uh, does that even apply to Legend of Zelda?) its former owner wrote “#1”

I mentioned on Facebook that I’ve got four of the Mario ones: Fireball, Star/Blooper (with Mario inexplicably running from the Blooper while he has the star– I won’t even get into how that scenario was impossible without cheating somehow), kicking a Hammer Bro, and seriously stomping the hell out of several tiny Goombas with an almost gleeful expression on his face, while they each recoil in terror.

I should look at posting about mine sometime…

Anyway, the fireball fell off of mine a while back (it was held in by a peg, maybe glued or something), but mine doesn’t have that speckle, marble-y look to it yours has.

I can’t remember where I got mine, though I’m not sure it was TRU– I lived in a smaller town without one, and while that’s not to say I never got anything from one, it was quite rare. I think I might have gotten mine at Kmart or Walmart.

Sadly, I never saw them on clearance. I’d like to say I’d have scooped them up, but my parents were pretty much the ones buying stuff for me at the time (I didn’t receive an allowance due to budget or something, so it was an odd sort of occasional trade-off), so this is as far as I got.

I have several (not a complete set, sadly), but they were pretty good– especially in comparison to these, at least color-wise, and they’ve held up well over the years, too. Definitely better than a vending machine prize, at least in terms of craftsmanship.

Matt

@LBD: I recognize those, but the ones I mentioned were different. I definitely remember having a Link figure, and vaguely remember one for Little Mac. They were 2.5-3″ tall, nicely painted but very “thin.” Just simple PVC figures without much bulk or weight.

I still have my Link/Legend of Zelda trophy figure! It’s in pretty gnarly shape just years of neglect in a dusty basement but I need to polish it up and display it!

Kobes

Never saw these babies back in the day but I would have loved them. Especially the one where Mario is kicking Bowser in the face. Hardcore!

Now that you guys mentioned it I too was desperate for Nintendo toys back in the day. What a dumb move by Nintendo not capitalizing on merchandise (in the rest of the world at least, there was probably killer stuff in Japan). They should have hired Lucas. They would have made millions.

I got one of the Zelda ones for Christmas one year (at the time they would have still been new) but I don’t recall which one. I think I may have eventually yanked the figures off their base and had them join the rest of my action figure army… so of course they’re expensive and rare now.

Speaking of things that lived forever in TRU clearance hell, my local store had Virtual Boy systems well up until at *least* the year 2000. I watched year after year as the boxes got more worn and damaged with time and the prices got lower and lower. By the last time I saw them I think they’d been priced down to $3.99 or something ridiculous like that and I still didn’t pull the trigger because the boxes were so badly beaten and taped-together by then that I figured the contents were long smashed. Now I wish I’d took the chance.

I *LOVED* these things! My neighbor had one of the Zelda trophies IIRC, but I had (and still have, somewhere) the one of Mario being chased by Bullet Bill. These things were so damn cool, and you’re right Matt, these were as close to toys as you could get, at least until the McDonald’s Happy Meal figures came out.

Cameron T.

My Toys R Us still has the paper slips! For some reason they’ve never updated to the new system. Up until a few years ago they still had their “World of Nintendo” aisles, too.

I remember these, but I don’t think I ever owned any of them. I had some other Nintendo figurines of about the same vintage, however, and once I really hit my Nintendo phase a few years after that, I lamented losing them. My friend had one of the Zelda ones for years (the one that featured a spiked trap enemy). I coveted it a little bit, I suppose.

I understand the appeal of bargain bin toys and the subsequent reluctance to pay a premium to reacquire them for nostalgic purposes in later years. I have the same thing about Snailiens and Barnyard Commandos. I’ve managed to acquire some over the years, but I never paid top dollar for them.

Another Tom

I was thinking about the Zelda ones of these a few weeks ago.

Doc Prop

It still bothers/confuses me when I see “regular” Mario hurling a fireball, when it should clearly be “fire” Mario.

King JLA

I loved the video games behind the glass, along with the WALL of various board games.

For some reason “statue” type toys don’t sale very well. A few years ago I got ahold of all of the Marvel/DC pewter figures that were all based on the Golden/Silver/and Modern age of comic covers behind them for about 5 bucks apiece at Toys R Us and Target. Sitting on my bookshelves rght now.

I remember seeing the at KB Toys. And I always thought they looked like really cool models(ya know, the ones you put together). I never got any of them, but I always wanted one. I’ve been checking them out on Ebay, but I always get sniped right at the end. Eventually I’ll land one. I wish I would’ve seen them on clearance at TRU.

I had both the Little Mac and the King Hippo pvc figures. I specifically remember having them because my brother stole them from some store(Nintendo was a drug back then). The King Hippo was traded back and forth between my brother and I for years. Any time it pops up online, it’s listed for more than I would ever want to pay. But maybe some day.

I don’t remember these things, but they’re awesome. I never went to Toys R Us much as a kid (the closest one is at least 45 minutes away), so that might have something to do with it, but I definitely remember the paper slips that you had to use to buy the games. Good times, man…good times.

Now I wish I grew up closer to a Toys R Us. When I was a kid, the nearest Toys R Us to my family was 45 minutes away. I don’t remember seeing these in South Jersey at all, because my gaming-obsessed younger sister would have been all over them.

Wow. I’m speechless. I can’t believe you wrote about something so random and posted it today and I put up an article on my site about the exact same product. Way to make me look bad, Matt. For shame.

Matt

LBD, ah, I see! (I do recall owning the one where Mario is climbing up the vine or whatever…just didn’t remember that it was from the same series!)

Those figures were also on perpetual clearance — but they didn’t last as long because the prices were even more insane. I think I was gobbling up the Little Macs for 50 cents each.

And hey Ray, at least we had different figures. 🙂

mandy_Reeves

what I love, is finding a dirt cheap clearance item of a high end toy, that was popular like the season before…but my nieces or nephew just discovered the show…so for like 5 dollars I could get like Backyardigans and wonder pets…i used to get my wrestling figures cheap sometimes…I will never forget my mom not letting me have a Mr Game show when it was on clearance for 10 dollars. Bitch it’s my birthday money…

Loneman1

Heh, still have a couple of those in the basement. That article also reminded me of how I coined the phrase “The cheap-o-matic” aisle of TRU with my friends…..hadn’t thought about that in years. Good times.

Matt: Ah, I’m jealous! I rarely got to see them in person– just getting Princess Toadstool (“Peach” to the youth of today) was a trial! I think I got Luigi from a neighbor through a trade of… something.

But I wanted to get Mario first, then move to Zelda and Punch-Out!!, but I never got that far. The first/main four I got didn’t even have the cardbacks– I begged my dad for them from some sort of small game shop we found when we went to the beach on the other side of the state.

If you’re interested, I talked a little here about the relationship between those, the Super Mario 3 McDonald’s Happy Meal toys, and another small group of Mario toys which involved small spring-loaded suction cups like the McD’s Mario.

Sorry to double-post, but I just came across this, and thought you might be interested, if only for the images.

I found those when I was looking for something else; when you said there was a lack of Nintendo toys, that wasn’t entirely true, but stuff like action figures? That, they missed the boat on for years— until the Nintendo 64 era, more or less.

But kids today definitely have it better. Have you seen this item from Wendy’s in 2002? It’s a full-blown Mario action figure, blister card and everything, which came in a Wendy’s Kids Meal. Articulation is basic, but compared to what we got? This is what I wanted to have running around with my Ninja Turtles and Transformers and such.

(And sorry to keep posting so much, this is just an area I’m really fond of and actually have some expertise in.)

LBD, that Wendy’s Mario figure is indeed great and a total anomaly for a fast food toy considering the weight and overall quality. It annually moonlights as the “angel” in the mini-tree I keep in my room each Christmas.

Matt

@LBD: I so did not make that connection that that was your Tumblr – awesome! I follow you on there. 🙂

Thanks for the pics! And yes, I was mainly referring to action figures. Obviously, those were a bigger deal for me, and I would’ve collected Nintendo figures by the truckload. The Trophies and mini-figs were nice substitutes, but nothing compared to what we’d get later!

I did NOT know about the blister-carded Mario figure from Wendy’s. That’s great!

@Ray: That’s cool; I’ve seen some actual Mario decorations I’d love to get my hands on, but they’re pretty rare. And that Wendy’s toy was unbelievable.

@Matt: Coolness; I’m flattered. =D

Totally agree on the figures. I even dreamed up Mario figures with action features when I was a kid, like a fireball-throwing Mario, or one that spun to swipe with his tail. So much potential squandered…

And good luck with the Wendy’s figure, if you decide to go for one. They do seem to pop up on eBay occasionally– I think a video with a fully-packaged one would be great!

It’s really a one-of-a-kind experience to find something like that in your kid’s meal, like getting something from the toy aisle for free with your food, instead of the usual cheaper fare. As Ray said, that thing is solid. =)

I had the Bowser and Princess one, and I paired it up with my rubber Applause Nintendo guys. I pried Princess Toadstool out of his hand so she could be “rescued”. This was the only Bowser you could get until Mario Kart 64 toys came out, so he got a lot of play time.

A few years later when I got into model-making, I painted Bowser in his traditional colors and gave him some eyebrows.

I had a few of these, but I never really understood why the Zelda ones came with the top score sticker.

Mushroom

Surprisingly, i’d never even heard of these until i saw this article. I really understand the feeling about the lack of nintendo toys though, growing up i wanted mario and kirby toys and no one had any. Nowadays a lot of comic shops sell kirby dolls but when i was a kid i (and by i i mean my parents) had to order them from japan.

I wonder how much a punch-out trophy goes for because i want one.

Hammer Bro

I was big into anything Nintendo back then. I picked these up at TRU for $1.98 ea on clearance. I have all 17 figures. All six of the Mario, All six of the Punch Out and five of the Zelda. The Zelda trophy show six trophies on the back of the box. I must of hit every TRU in the area, but could not find The Link Battles Zola trophy. I found out years ago that it was never produced. I still have all 17 trophies in all there original boxes.